The Republicans are on the sidelines on the climate crisis. Government scientists are muzzled. Leading Democrats — though not all — are cautious. CEOs of some of America’s biggest corporations are pledging action while others, like investment firms, fossil fuel companies and Charles Koch’s lobbyists, are downright hostile. And Donald Trump, the world’s leading climate change denier, did not even attend a United Nations (UN) climate summit on Sept. 23, even though he was in the UN building the same day.
But the American public is coming around to the view that the climate crisis is real, urgent and therefore a national priority. The turnout of millions of people on Sept. 20, highlighted by student-led strikes in most of the world’s major cities, is evidence of a new consciousness about the threat climate change poses to everyone, everywhere.